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Cassinia 22
In John James Audubon’s signature work, The
Birds of America, he drew five birds that, to this day,
still puzzle amateur and professional ornithologists
alike. These five birds are known collectively as
“Audubon’s mystery birds.” Almost since the
completion of Audubon’s great work in 1838, attempts
have been made to pin identifications on these mystery
five. No adequate explanation seems ever to have been
offered for two, the Small-headed Flycatcher (see
Wilson, Audubon, Ord and a Flycatcher article on page
11) and the Blue Mountain Warbler (Figure 1).
An excellent article by Kenneth C. Parkes that
appeared in 1985 suggests that both of these birds are
the result of hybridization between dissimilar warbler
species. However, as no specimen exists for either of
these two birds, little more can be deduced (Parkes,
1985).
The Cuvier’s Wren (a/k/a Cuvier’s Kinglet)
(Figure 2) is also believed to be a hybrid; in this case,
between a Ruby-crowned and a Golden-crowned
Notes on Audubon’s “Mystery” Birds
Jeff Holt
Kinglet. One ornithologist concluded that this bird
was simply a Golden-crowned Kinglet with a red
crown patch (Parkes, 1985).
As to the Carbonated (Swamp) Warbler (Figure
3), Audubon collected two males in Kentucky, in the
spring of 1811. At that time, he noted that these birds
were “not in full plumage” and suspected that they
were young birds, having only hatched the previous
year. Parkes notes that as long ago as 1832,
ornithologists suggested that these birds were Cape
May Warblers. “In their first spring, male Cape May
warblers differ from older males in that the orange-
brown cheek patch is reduced or practically absent
and the white wing bar is much narrower. These
features exactly match Audubon’s plate of the
Figure 1. Blue Mountain Warbler. Plate 98
from Audubon’s The Birds of America, Octavo
Edition. Provided by courtesy of the Joel
Oppenheimer Gallery, Chicago, IL.
Figure 2. Cuvier’s Kinglet. Plate 131
from Audubon’s The Birds of America, Octavo
Edition. Provided by courtesy of the Joel
Oppenheimer Gallery, Chicago, IL.
Cassinia 23
carbonated warbler, so it is probably not necessary to
look any further for a plausible explanation” (Parkes
1985).
The last bird, and the only one for which a
specimen still exists, is the Townsend’s Bunting
(Figure 4). This bird was painted by Audubon from a
single specimen given to him by John K. Townsend
who collected the bird in Chester County, PA. on May
11, 1833. As reported by Deane (1909), Townsend
described the bird thus:
Male – Upper mandible black, middle edge white,
lower light blue with a longitudinal line of black
extending from the point half way to the base;
irides light hazel; head dark plumbious [sic],
indistinctly spotted with black; cheeks and breast
light plumbious; line over the eye white; throat
white, with a black line extending from the base
of the lower mandible down each side of the neck
and terminating on the breast in a few small oval
spots; outside the black line on each side of the
throat is a broader stripe of white ending with
the base of the auriculars; back varied with black
Figure 3. Carbonated Swamp Warbler. Plate
109 from Audubon’s The Birds of America,
Octavo Edition. Provided by courtesy of the
Joel Oppenheimer Gallery, Chicago, IL.
Figure 4. Townsend’s Bunting. Plate 157
from Audubon’s The Birds of America, Octavo
Edition. Provided by courtesy of the Joel
Oppenheimer Gallery, Chicago, IL.
and brown; wings plain dusky, the first and second
primaries equal and longest, the lesser coverts
edged with pale brown; shoulders yellowish
white; rump and emarginate tail uniform with the
wings; breast tinged with ochreous, the color
gradually deepening upon the belly; below and
inferior tail coverts brownish-white; legs and feet
dusky. Length 5 3/4 inches. Extent 9 inches.
Parkes (1985) was able to examine the fragile
specimen at the National Museum of Natural History
in Washington, DC, where it resides under lock and
key. Based upon both Townsend’s description and his
own examination of the skin, Parkes concluded that
the subject bird was in fact a schizochroistic (lacking
yellow pigment) female Dickcissel.
Parkes himself noted that schizochroistic
properties have been documented in the blue variety
of the familiar green budgerigar, or parakeet (Parkes,
Notes on Audubon’s Mystery Birds
Cassinia 24
1215 Taft Ave.
West Deptford, NJ 08096
1985). The absence of yellow pigments has been noted
in other species such as in Yellow-bellied Flycatchers
(Phillips, 1970). Thus, Parkes’ analysis that the
Townsend’s Bunting was nothing more than a
Dickcissel that lacked its yellow pigments is a
reasonable conclusion, but for one issue: Parkes’
examination of the skin and his analysis indicates the
bird in question was a female. Yet, in Townsend’s
description of the bird he collected, he clearly states
that the bird was a male!
Parkes suggested that perhaps the same condition
that created the schizochroistic conditions may have
“prevented the bird from assuming the normal
plumage of the adult male” (Parkes, 1985). However,
there may be another, perhaps more likely,
conclusion…to wit: the Townsend’s Bunting was a
first year male. In the Sibley Guide to Bird Life and
Behavior, the authors note that “Cardinalids are
unusual among birds in that males of all North
American species, except the Northern Cardinal and
Literature Cited
Deane, R. 1909. Some Original Manuscript Relating to the History of Townsend’s Bunting. Auk
26:269-272.
Parkes, K. C. 1985. Audubon’s Mystery Birds. Natural History. April, 1985:88-92.
Phillips, A. R., and W. E. Lanyon. 1970. Additional Notes on the Flycatchers of Eastern North America.
Journal of Field Ornithology 4:190-197.
Sibley, D. A. 2001. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Pyrrhuloxia, exhibit delayed plumage maturation.
They do not acquire their adult plumage by their first
potential breeding season (at about 10-12 months of
age). In these species, most 1-year-old males wear
plumages that can range from completely female-
like…to intermediate between male and female…”
(Sibley, 2001).
Assuming that Townsend properly sexed our
subject bird at the time he collected it (during spring
migration), then the more likely and logical conclusion
is that the bird that Townsend collected and Audubon
painted was in fact a schizochroistic first year male
Dickcissel.
Some day, perhaps, science will advance to the
point that ornithologists will have the ability to shed
further light onto Audubon’s mystery birds. Until then,
we can only speculate.
Notes on Audubon’s Mystery Birds
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